New people and First Impressions

My world has been turned completely upside-down in the past three days. I'm now sitting in my living room with my new roommate, Harrison, in my apartment in Zamalek, Cairo.

London was great and I spent a good 10 hours or so there with my sister Joy. Westminster Abbey (built in the 1000's) was beautiful and a little creepy since there were tons of tombs there. The most important Brits are buried there and it was quite an experience to stand in front of the tomb of Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Lord Byron, Alfred Lord Tennyson, kings and queens, and many many more. The fish and chips and Guinness at a restaurant called Devonshire Arms was delicious.

I met the nicest Egyptians ever on the plane ride to Cairo! Gamal, who is a student in Baltimore, was flying back with his mother and we talked the whole way there. They were so kind and even taught me a little Arabic. They eased any concerns I had before arriving, and even invited me to their home in Alexandria.

I was met at the airport by Ma'andi, Omar, Mossad, and Hend who took me out for fooul (beans) at like 2 in the morning. My stomach was killing so we got some medicine and I went back to my aparment. This morning Hend took me to Cairo University for a meeting with the members of AIESEC Cairo. I hung out with Hend and her fiance Nour all day. They were so helpful and fun! I got a pretty decent phone at the mall, then we got dinner at Chile's with some other AIESECers. Yes, they have Chile's in Cairo! It's more expensive but pretty good.

I've learned a lot today...It's not quite as conservative as I had thought it would be. I guess I expected the women to be more reserved, and some are, but it's not dramatically different from the U.S. People did stare at me a lot today because I'm obviously foreign and I was wearing shorts, which isn't very common here apparently (I don't know why because its so hot here).

Taking a trip to the pyramids tomorrow at Giza to look around and ride a horse and a camel! I don't start work until Tuesday, so I've got time to rest and get settled.